The new variety originated as a result of a controlled cross between the strawberry plants xe2x80x98Key Largoxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,649) and xe2x80x98L3xe2x80x99 (unpatented proprietary) in an ongoing breeding program, and was discovered as a seedling in a controlled breeding plot. The original seedling of the new cultivar was asexually propagated by stolons in Shasta County, Calif. Propagules were transplanted to a controlled breeding plot in Valrico, Hillsborough County, Fla. where the new cultivar first fruited in December 1994 and was selected for further evaluation. xe2x80x98Marathonxe2x80x99 was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing in the area of Valrico, Fla. from 1995-1999. This propagation and testing has demonstrated that the combination of traits disclosed herein which characterize the new variety are fixed and retained true to type through successive generations as asexual reproduction.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of strawberry named xe2x80x98Marathonxe2x80x99. The variety is botanically identified as Fragariaxc3x97ananassa. The new variety is distinguished from other varieties by a number of characteristics as set forth in Tables 1, 2 and 3.
The varieties which we believe to be closest to xe2x80x98Marathonxe2x80x99 from those known to us are xe2x80x98Key Largoxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,649), xe2x80x98Captivaxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,277, allowed) and xe2x80x98Miradorxe2x80x99 (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,279, allowed). There are several characteristics of xe2x80x98Marathonxe2x80x99 that are different from, or not possessed by xe2x80x98Key Largoxe2x80x99, xe2x80x98Captivaxe2x80x99 or xe2x80x98Miradorxe2x80x99. Table 1 provides information on the plant and fruit characteristics of the new variety xe2x80x98Marathonxe2x80x99 compared with characteristics of xe2x80x98Key Largoxe2x80x99, xe2x80x98Captivaxe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98Miradorxe2x80x99. Table 2 provides additional information of the plant and fruit characteristics of the new variety xe2x80x98Marathonxe2x80x99 compared with characteristics of the varieties xe2x80x98Captivaxe2x80x99, xe2x80x98Key Largoxe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98Miradorxe2x80x99. Table 3 provides isozyme characteristics of the new variety as compared to the varieties xe2x80x98Key Largoxe2x80x99, xe2x80x98Captivaxe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98Miradorxe2x80x99.